


Heart♡Throb: For All Boys Who like Boys

by brookwrites



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, Flash Fic Fest: Dan And Phil GAMES!, Fluff, M/M, Phandom Fic Fests: DAPG Flash Fest, Some Swearing, Strangers to Lovers, heartthrob au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 16:18:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17563847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brookwrites/pseuds/brookwrites
Summary: In the Heart♡Throb Universe, a world full of boys sees only grey until they’re ‘chosen’, and they become colorful. When they’re chosen, they compete for the love of a number of girls, and whoever wins gets to keep their color. The losers go back to the bland, emotionless life of a grey boy. It’s no wonder why Dan’s so competitive when he gets his color for the first time, but he’s distracted by one of his competitors: a boy named Phil who doesn’t seem to care at all. When their character traits are revealed to the girls, it turns out the two hold a secret in common.





	Heart♡Throb: For All Boys Who like Boys

**Author's Note:**

> This is my fic for the Dan and Phil Games flash fest from phandomficfests on Tumblr! It’s my first time doing one, so i’m super excited! It’s not completely accurate to HeartThrob nor is it socially perfect, as it’s set in the imperfect 90s of this damned game, but I’m really proud of it! I hope you enjoy :)

Dan gasped to life, eyes darting wildly. He took in the color around him and sat up straight in bed, calling out to his friends who had spent the night. “Guys!” he shouted, waking the grey beings up. They all leaned up from his floor, seeming unhappy to be jolted from sleep. In reality, however, they always seemed unhappy; that’s what happens when you’re grey.

“You’re colorful!” one said in a monotone voice that to him seemed to be an excited shout.

“Congrats, man,” another said, just as monotone. Dan had never realized until he was colorful how boring it was to be grey.

“You guys have got to get out of here; I need to get ready!” he exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

“Geez, no need to bust our eardrums.” Dan wasn’t really speaking that loud, but to them, he was screaming.

As they left, he ran his hands through his hair and examined himself. He had brown, curly hair and deep brown eyes, and the clothes he was wearing didn’t match at all. Looking around, he discovered that nothing in his room matched. As terrible as it looked, Dan was in absolute awe of the world around him. He’d never seen color before, and it was even more incredible than he imagined.

color was a special privilege in Dan’s world. At any moment, all but three boys were grey. Dan had always been grey, as had most of his friends. When one was grey, they could only see in grey. The only color they could see was that of the others who had color. The entire world was darker, and they were completely bland. It was almost like only being half alive.

Dan’s world was small; there were only about five hundred boys, and they were all teenagers except for one, who led the world. The leader had given them a test when they were first made. Those who scored the highest taught the rest; those who scored the lowest worked. Everyone in between was a student at the school.

Any three boys at a time, from any of the three professions, had the chance of being colorful. When a boy was colorful, it meant he was in contention for the next batch of girls to enter their world. When they entered, they stayed, and they brought color with them. There could be anywhere between two and five of them, but all that mattered was which of the three boys each one of them would pick. If a boy was picked by any of the girls, he would get to keep his color and stay with the girls, finally able to grow old with them. If he wasn’t selected, he would go back to being grey until he was given another turn.

Because of this, a boy’s only goal was to be chosen by a girl. However, it wasn’t as easy as charming a girl off her feet. She would be given three personality traits of each boy; if she happened to pull a particularly bad one, a boy’s chances would be ruined.

Luckily, each boy had the chance to redeem whatever would be said by speaking to the girls at a dance and at a party, but only if he was picked. It was a confusing and stressful process, but each boy agreed it was worth the work to escape the dreadful state that was being grey.

And now it was Dan’s turn. He threw on his best outfit and ran out his door to school, stopping and taking in every little detail of the world on the way there. It was absolutely fascinating; Dan had never seen anything like it before.

When he arrived at school, his mind was racing with thoughts and to do lists. He laughed at the ridiculous color scheme painted on the lockers because those who painted them couldn’t tell what colors they were using, he said hello to his friends, and he searched for the girls and the other colorful boys. He was consumed mostly by the last one, but it was much more difficult than he thought.

Dan was unsuccessful in finding anyone colorful other than the boys and girls who had been matched previously, so he retired to his first class of the day. He was constantly receiving looks from grey boys who would have paid to be him, but it didn’t last long.

“We have received word that three new boys became colorful this morning,” said yet another monotonous voice over the intercom. “Boys, please report to the main office to meet the girls.”

Everyone in the room turned to Dan as he scrambled out of his desk and waved awkwardly as he left the classroom. He couldn’t help but tremble; this was his chance to escape the grey limbo. He had to make a good first impression.

On his way to the office, he found grey boy after grey boy, walking down the hall with their heads down. It almost brought tears to Dan’s eyes; had he looked that sad his entire life?

Dan took a deep breath as he entered the office. “Please take a seat,” the office attendant said, gesturing towards an empty chair beside two other colorful boys. One, a sandy blonde-haired boy with horrible acne and a horrendous fashion taste, was wringing his hands nervously. Dan didn’t see him as much of a threat. The other was a handsome boy with jet-black hair. He was wearing a white shirt with bright triangles on it, and he didn’t even seem at all scared. That one definitely worried Dan.

“So…” Dan said, awkwardly trying to converse with the boy beside him. “Do you know how many there are?”

He looked over at Dan and pointed at himself, raising an eyebrow. Dan nodded slowly. The boy cleared his throat and spoke quietly. He didn’t seem to be one for talking. “Two, I heard. Not that it matters anyway.”

“What do you mean? It matters a ton! Two is a terrible number; at least one of us will go home empty-handed!” Both of them paused to look over to the other boy. “Well, maybe that one won’t be a problem, but still.”

“You’ll be fine. They won’t pick me.”

“Why not?”

“They just won’t.” Dan was intimidated by the voice; he’d never heard aggression expressed so emotionally. Being grey had not only dulled him, but also his experiences of the world.

The door opened in front of them, and they were brought in to meet the girls. Dan was the first to introduce himself. “Hi,” he said, doing a little wave. “I’m Dan.” He put his hands together as to make brackets to show his name. The girls smiled awkwardly at him, and he smacked himself in the head. “Stupid.”

“I’m Ronald!” yelled the blonde boy, and they all had to cover their ears because he yelled so loud. He smiled, showing the biggest braces Dan had ever seen. Definitely not a problem.

“I’m Phil,” muttered the boy Dan had been talking to. He didn’t seem to care all that much, but he seemed nice. Phil was a nice name.

“Girls?” asked the world leader. They’d all been taught how the process worked; the girls would simply take a look at them and pick one to dance with at the school dance that would be scheduled for that evening.

“I pick Phil!” the one on the left exclaimed. She had brown hair similar in color to Dan’s, and she looked excited. Her long hair was bobbing behind her as her dimples showed over her freckles. She was actually quite attractive. Phil, however, sighed and rolled his eyes. “Phil, will you dance with me?”

“Sure,” he muttered carelessly. It was almost as if he was grey, but he wasn’t. He just couldn’t be bothered.

The other girl, one with dirty blonde hair up in pigtails, looked between Dan and Phil, completely ignoring Ronald. Dan’s heart was racing. He didn’t want to sit out the first round! “Dan, will you dance with me?” He exhaled deeply and smiled at her.

“Of course!”

The dance was simple; they were free to roam as they wished until the slow song came on, and then they were to dance with the girls who had chosen them. It was a short dance, but Dan still had some time to try and talk to Phil a bit.

Dan wasn’t quite sure what it was, but there was something intriguing about Phil, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it. Sure, he’d find more out about him as the personality traits came out, but Dan wanted to know him as a person, not as a few cards.

“So, you enjoying the dance?” he asked, stretching out a cup of punch for him.

He reluctantly took the cup and took a sip. “Not particularly.”

“Why not?”

“I hate this damn process. I don’t want to be here. I’d rather be grey,” he sighed, taking another sip of punch.

“You’d rather be grey?” Dan exclaimed, gaping. “But being grey is horrible!”

“Not as horrible as this is for me. I’m not particularly about a dating game with three girls.”

Dan didn’t quite understand what he meant, so he just shrugged. “Suit yourself, I guess. But you probably should dance with your girl,” he said as the slow song began to play. “Don’t worry; it’ll be over soon.” Phil sighed, not budging. “Come on!” Dan shouted, taking Phil’s arm.

Phil’s eyes went wide, and his face turned bright red. He pulled his arm away from Dan. “I’ll go myself.”

Dan furrowed his brow and shrugged again. “Okay. Have fun!”

Dan went off to his own girl, leaving Phil to sigh and run his hand through his hair as his girl approached him.

“You’re quite nice, Dan. I feel good when I’m around you.”

Dan wasn’t particularly sure what to say to that. He’d never spoken to a girl before, and he hadn’t a clue how. “Me too!” His face scrunched up as soon as he said it.

“You’re a weird one, aren’t you?”

That was an easy answer. “Yeah, but I prefer quirky.”

The girl laughed, seeming to enjoy his joke, despite the fact that it wasn’t much of a joke. “Don’t worry; I’m just like that. Just relax and enjoy the dance.”

Somehow, dancing came easily to Dan. He’d been taught to do it, but it only took one lesson and he was a pro. Social skills, however, weren’t quite as easy for him.

The dance ended before Dan even had a chance to say anything else to his girl. “See you tomorrow!” she said, heading off and leaving Dan to stand in the middle of the nearly abandoned gym.

“Could’ve gone better, huh?”

Dan turned to see Phil coming up behind him. “Definitely. I was awkward the entire time.”

“Mine seemed to like me pretty well, but there’s some stuff she doesn’t know.” They walked side by side out of the gym and into the warm summer air. Each of them were simply walking home, but it happened to be in the same direction. “You’ll win; I’m sure of it.”

“You really shouldn’t put yourself down like that, you know?” Dan said. He was beginning to get concerned about the boy. He put his arm around his shoulder, and Phil stiffened up. “You’re better than that.”

“Believe me, I’m not putting myself down. You’re not understanding me. Maybe I’ll win, but you’ll get the girls.”

“You know, Phil, you confuse me sometimes.”

Phil took a deep breath, and Dan felt his companion’s muscles relax as he put his own arm around Dan’s shoulder. “I confuse me sometimes too.”

The next morning, the three boys reported back to the office for the drawing of the traits. Dan waved to his girl, and she waved back; that was definitely a good sign. Phil’s girl waved to him, but he ignored her.

“Here, we have the trait cards,” said the world leader. “Each of you will have two traits revealed, one by each girl, before they choose who to bring to the party. Best of luck.”

He presented the stack of cards to the girls. Dan was amazed by the fact that it was truly just a stack of cards; there was definitely some sort of magic in play, because it was a well known fact that every card was an actual, preexisting personality trait of the boy it was drawn for.

First, Dan’s girl from the dance drew.

“Ronald…” she trailed off as she looked at the card and up at him; he was smiling much wider than he should have been. “Wants to spend his holidays at a nudist camp.”

Somehow, Ronald’s smile doesn’t waver. “It’s tasteful!”

“What the hell, Ronald?” Phil butted in.

“Dan…” she drew a card and looked up at him. Dan was sweating through his shirt; the personality traits were the scariest part. They could make or break a boy’s chance. “Wears all black clothes.” Dan looked himself up and down. He’d never really thought about it before, but he did choose to wear all black clothes. It wasn’t a fashion thing; black was just the only color he used to be able to tell apart from all the others. Hopefully all black wasn’t a bad thing.

“Phil…” Phil sighed as she read his name, still unable to care even a little bit. “Is awkward.” He shrugged in agreement.

Next came the second girl. “Ronald… Plays the clarinet.”

“I’m quite good at it, actually!” he exclaimed, still trying to recover from the nudist camp.

“Okay, Ronald,” she said, refusing to even look at him.

“Dan… is a theatre kid.” She seemed pleased to read that off. Dan seemed to be in good shape, thankfully.

“Phil… Wears bright colors.” She looked up at him, and he shrugged yet again.

“Not like that’s obvious or anything.”

Dan hadn’t quite thought about it, but Phil was wearing yet another bright shirt. It was sort of ironic; he looked quite bright, but he didn’t seem very happy at all.

“So, girls, who would you like to go to the party with?”

Dan’s girl from the previous night went first. “Well, I’m really awkward, so I relate a lot to Phil. Let’s switch it up some! Phil, will you go to the party with me?”

“Guess I don’t have much of a choice, huh?” he muttered.

“Edgy!” shouted the girl. “I love it!” Phil let out another sigh, and Dan felt bad for him. Something was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

The other girl began to speak, and Dan suddenly remembered the gravity of the situation; the girl had to pick him, or else he’d be screwed. “Well, I love theatre, and black is so in for the 90s, so, Dan, will you go to the party with me?”

“Yes!” he exclaimed, taking her hands in his. He could hear Phil gag.

Dan was thrilled for the party as he showed up on the host’s doorstep; he needed the opportunity so he could market to both girls. If he was lucky, at least one would ask him to be her boyfriend.

“Hi, Dan!” his girl for the night called as he walked into the house. Dan wanted to call her name out as well, but he didn’t know it. He wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t allowed to. It was just one of those weird rules.

“Hi! I’m excited to hang out with you tonight!”

“Me too!”

She immediately gravitated towards her friend, who, of course, was with Phil. “How’s it going?” Dan asked Phil.

“As well as it can, I guess.”

Dan sighed, deciding not to bother Phil any further. He needed to focus on talking to the girls, specifically his.

“So, what type of theatre do you like?” she asked.

“Oh, I love performing in musicals.” Behind him, Phil snickered, and Dan turned to him. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just some stereotypes.”

Dan, clueless, ignored him and turned back to his girl. “What about you?”

“I love acting in plays, but I love watching movies. My girlfriends and I get together all the time and have movie night.”

“Oh, that-”

“Can you go get us some food?”

Dan was thrown off by her interruption, but he obliged. Phil was sent by his girl too. “Aren’t girls just a joy?” he asked Dan as they gathered plates of popcorn and cookies.

Dan chuckled. “I’ve gotta agree with you by now. Dating girls isn’t my favorite activity either, but it’s worth the prize.”

“The rest of your life with these girls?”

“Well… I don’t know.” A fear entered his stomach. He’d never thought about it like that before. He’d only ever thought of it as an alternative to being grey. It wasn’t until then that he first realized that keeping his color would have some consequences as well.

“That’s what I thought.” Phil took his plates and went back to his girl, but Dan took an extra minute at the table. Suddenly, he was unconfident. Was it best to just keep doing what he was doing? Did he want that? Was there a better option? Was Phil just trying to throw him off so he could have the girls? Dan hadn’t a clue, so he did the only thing he knew to do, and that was to keep trying.

“Here you go!” he said, excitedly handing his girl her plate of food.

“Yay, I love popcorn!” she exclaimed, popping a piece into her mouth.

“So, tell me about yourself!” Dan said, sitting down for the long haul. He was overwhelmed and out of ideas, so he simply let her talk for most of the party. Luckily, she seemed to enjoy it. Phil, however, wasn’t having as easy of a time.

“Ugh!” Dan heard Phil’s girl shout. “I thought I was awkward! You’re no fun,” she groaned before stomping out of the party. Dan turned to Phil, who was there with his mouth wide open. Even he couldn’t play that one off as if it wasn’t a problem. 

“Just one minute, please?” Dan said to his girl. She seemed a bit annoyed, but Dan didn’t mind.

“That was very bad,” Phil said.

“Yeah, it was! What happened?” Dan said exasperatedly.

“Don’t know. I was just kinda sitting here. I didn’t really wanna talk to her, so I didn’t.”

“Well, that’s obviously the problem, Phil! Why didn’t you talk to her?”

He simply shrugged. “Don’t like her.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “So you’re alright?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Dan sighed, turning back to his girl. “Yeah, Dan, I think I’m gonna get going. It’s kinda weird without my friend here.”

Dan bit his lip. Was leaving to talk to Phil a mistake. “I understand. Have a good night!”

She smiled awkwardly at him before turning on her heel and following her friend. 

“That was very bad,” Phil said, with a smile on his face.

“Shut up.”

Phil led him out of the party and onto the street. Luckily, the girls were nowhere to be found.

They walked in silence for a while. “Hey, perk up,” Phil said, elbowing Dan. “After my fuck-up, you’re sure to get them both.”

“I guess,” Dan said. “But I don’t know if I want them.”

“Oh, I got to you, huh?” he bit his lip, looking down at his feet. “Look, don’t listen to anything I say. I’m… A special circumstance. Just because I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with a girl doesn’t mean you don’t. You and I are very different people.”

“Maybe,” Dan said. “But I don’t know anymore. It’s just not as appealing as it used to be.”

“That’s okay too,” Phil said, keeping his feet in step with Dan’s. “But I don’t know if that’s true. You should probably sleep on it; see how you feel in the morning.”

“I guess so.” Dan looked over at Phil and smiled. His face glowed in the setting sun, and it made him look quite attractive. “Thanks, Phil,” he said, unable to wipe the smile off his face.

At that point, even Phil smiled. “Any time.”

Dan did sleep on the matter, and it only made him feel worse. On one hand, he’d wanted to be chosen by a girl all his life, and deep down, it was still his greatest desire. But on the other hand, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d miss his old life. He’d miss his old friends, he’d miss his nice, little house, and, for some reason, most of all, he’d miss Phil.

It was a difficult decision, but he wasn’t the one who would have to make it, much to his pleasure. They would have one more trait chosen, and then the girls would make their choices.

This time, Phil’s trait was chosen first. “Phil… hates cheese.” the blonde girl chose. The two girls argued for a moment over the validity of cheese.

Phil added a simple “it’s gross”.

Next, it was revealed that Ronald’s braces had been in his mouth since he was nine. They were all sixteen.

“How does that even happen?” said the girl who drew the card. He simply shrugged.

“Now, Dan…” the first girl picked the card, and her eyes bugged out of her head. Instinctively, Dan immediately became cripplingly nervous.

“What is it?” he asked impatiently as she showed the card to her friend. Whatever it was, it was somehow an even bigger deal than Robert’s nudist holidays.

“Dan… is gay!”

Dan’s jaw dropped to the floor; he froze where he was, unable to move or even think.

“All the good ones!” one of the girls shouted, but Dan could barely hear her. He had tuned out. Gay? Since when was he gay? There must have been a fluke; Dan had never been gay. He’d lived in a world of only boys for his entire life and never been attracted to a single one of them.

“Tough luck, kid,” Phil said, drawing Dan back to reality. His eyes widened again as he looked into Phil’s. That explained a lot. “What’s with you?” he asked, narrowing his eyebrows at Phil. Suddenly, Dan understood everything Phil had told him and more.

“Girls, it’s time to make your decision.

They both shrugged. “I was gonna choose Dan, but I guess now I’ll choose Phil.” 

“Yeah, same,” said the other girl.

Both of them stepped toward Phil and spoke in unison. “Phil, will you go out with me?”

Dan’s eyes widened. Something very bad was about to happen. Phil blinked, face blank and uncaring. “Nah.”

“Phil, don’t do this,” Dan said immediately. “You can get out of here. You can keep your color. It’s not worth it.”

“It’s damn well worth it!” Phil shouted. “It’s more than worth it to maintain who I am.” He turned back to the girls. “I’m sorry, but I’m gay too.” Before the girls could even react, he was speaking to Dan again. “And now that it’s out there for us both… I think I like you, Dan.”

Dan never did figure out how to talk to girls, but he didn’t even have to think to know what to say to Phil. “I think I like you too.”

“We both think we like each other,” Phil said, grinning at Dan.

“I guess there’s only one way to find out for sure.” Before he even knew it, his lips were pressed against Phil’s. He heard a stray “ew” from the others in the room, but he couldn’t have cared less. It was worth it.

“This is pointless,” one of the girls butted in. “Ronald, will you go out with me?”

“Oh, hell yeah!” he said, and the girl reluctantly locked arms with him as he turned to the other. “How about you, babe?”

“Over my dead body!” she spat out, turning to Dan. “Please, I’m begging you.”

He scrunched his face up in disgust and confusion. “No!”

“Damnit.” She followed her friend to Ronald’s side and the three of them walked off together.

“Well, that was wild,” Phil said, arm wrapped around Dan’s waist.

“Hey, Phil?”

“Yeah, Dan?”

“Let’s go home.”

Phil spent that night at Dan’s house. They’d had a very busy evening, but it all died down by around 11:00. It had to; they knew what would happen at midnight. 

“I don’t want to go back to grey,” Dan whispered. He was lying in Phil’s arms, Phil running his fingers through Dan’s hair.

“Neither do I.”

“Will things be the same when we’re grey?”

Phil stared off into the distance as he thought. “I don’t know, honestly. But this actually isn’t my first time.”

Dan sat up and looked into his eyes. “You’ve been colorful before?”

Phil nodded. “It was when I realized I was gay. I had the trait drawn, just like you.”

“What’s it like?” Dan asked. “You know…going back to grey?”

“Well,” Phil started, sitting up and leaning back against the bed frame. “It’s no fun, but it’s really not near as bad as you’d imagine. It’s almost like being colorful was just a nice dream.”

“That’s just kinda sad.”

“Yeah, it is. I guess that’s the point.”

There was a moment’s silence before Dan finally voiced his concern. “Are we going to remember each other?”

“Of course, Dan!” Phil said with a laugh. “I still wave to the boys I competed with the first time in the halls every now and then. They’re both with girls, and they don’t particularly want to talk to me, but I still wave.”

Dan couldn’t help but laugh at that. “You’re so lame.”

“So are you.”

“Touché.” Dan leaned back onto Phil, and they regressed into their previous cuddling position. “I guess there’s really no way to tell what it’s going to be like until it happens, is there?”

Phil shook his head sadly. “I think it’s time to go to sleep.”

Dan nodded and turned out his light. “Goodnight, Phil,” he said, settling back into Phil’s touch.

“Goodnight, Dan.”

“No matter what happens… I love you.”

Phil leaned forward and kissed Dan’s forehead. “I love you too.”

Dan blinked his eyes open the next morning to see sunlight streaming through his window. He looked to his left and saw Phil lying there, his black hair still lying on Dan’s bright blue pillowcase. Dan got up and went to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror as he washed his hands. He loved looking at his hair; brown was such a nice color for it. color. “Phil!” he shouted, scrambling back into his bedroom.

Phil jolted awake at his shout. “What is it?”

“Phil, I’m colorful!”

His eyes widened in realization. “I am too!”

Dan ran forward and jumped on the bed, tackling Phil in a tight embrace. Tears filled his eyes as he held Phil close. “We’re colorful, Phil.”

At first, they feared that their color was just lingering and would eventually go away, but eventually that fear alleviated. Phil grew an inch, and Dan got a pimple; they were changing. They were aging. This was permanent.

It had always been assumed that the girls were the key to color. When a boy found his girl, he got and kept color. No one had ever thought that love between two boys could hold color; no one had ever tried it before. It turned out Dan and Phil proved something that had never even been considered before. It wasn’t the girls that held the color; it was the love.


End file.
